There be three four classes of fear that tug at my heart everyday as I wake up to start my hustle. These fears sometimes even visit me in the cool of the night to cast their appearance in my dreams, and to remind me that there is no such thing as total freedom. They are so familiar that they’ve become friends, not the kind of bear hugging, back thumbing, meal sharing kind of friendship you all know of, but the kind of friendship a student has with the head of his department. That “do it my way, and you’ll have no problems” kind of friendship. So it is safe to say, that the day I turn and do not see these friends of mine, it would be safe to say that I have passed to the great Elysian Fields.
The first of these fears is the fear of God. You cannot imagine how many “things” I have turned aside from on account of it. The holders and knowers of the holders of this fear know exactly what I mean. The second is the fear of not showing men the light! The third is the fear of being overly serious. In fact I dread extreme seriousness to the extent that I sometimes choose to sit along the corridors to gist instead of sitting in class for a lecture (help yourself by not following me), call me unserious, I don’t mind; that thing works for me! The fourth is the fear of dogs and fowls. This is a good combination since I cannot be accused of being an ajebo (Ajebos obviously like dogs), neither can the tag of kpako be placed on me (ever seen a kpakoro that was scared of fowls?) However, my fear of dogs does not extend to dog meat.
You did not click that link to read about fears. You wanted to read about the Nigerian’s mind, talking about fears was an intro, just the same way these Warri comedians scream “area!” when they come on stage. I talked about fears because I’m about to point a torch into the mind of an average Nigerian having been inspired by my second fear.
Having spent a little above two decades living in this country (if you are not yet 18, you should call me uncle), I have come to identify certain dreams/mentalities/lifestyles that are very common in the typical Nigerian society. I shall narrow my analysis to the young and not so young.
1. My turn go reach: I am a man of order. This means I respect seniority and structure. But we all know that whenever we use this phrase, and dream of this heavenly turn, we are hoping that someday, a brother, a brother’s friend, a friend’s brother, or even ourselves will get appointed into a position where he will have access to the government’s coffers, into which which he will dip his hands, and with the emerging goodies, wipe away the tears of the family, and we will be singing, “there will be no more sorrows, no more…no more, for many thousand years”. So we have no business with curing the society, let the evil remain, for one day, we shall profit from it. An example of this was when I was writing NECO in 2008, my classmates made it a duty to make sure they “rush/mass grab” the food meant for the SS3s at every meal, so that the others will not get a shot at the food. We (Izunna and I) in the beginning, always fell on the wrong side of things, which means we often had to eat from the bukas outside the school. Surprisingly, Izunna found nothing wrong with the rushing, he’d always say, our turn go come, and one day, it came…..
2. I go soon hammer: I know some critics have already started saying, “this is the same thing with the first point”, but hold your peace first, this second dream applies mostly to the young people. We all want to hammer from something or nothing. The society has scores of people who desire success but are unwilling to pay the price. We all want to drive that Range, but we do not want to work hard. So whenever an opportunity presents itself, we cut corners and grab easy glory. One thing with easy glory is that it is hardest to keep. The others who do not have the impetus to commit crimes lie in wait, hoping that one day they’ll just be walking on the road and one Donald Trump will call them and bless them with $1million. Or that they’ll pick an ownerless £40million by the wayside. Will you lie that this has never crossed your mind? Wake up brother, if you need success, you’ll have to work hard and smart. You can start by visiting www.opportunitydesk.org, take the bull by the horn, or there where you lie waiting, is where your bones will be picked.
3. Me too I want: We want everything. Everything is now a status symbol in Nigeria. You cannot afford to pay all your children’s school fees effortlessly and you’re busy paying heavy monthly dues in a social club just to belong. You tie your stomach; stay hungry for months as a student just to buy an Iphone. You cannot even boast of food in your pot and you’re busy using your last money to feel like a boss in a club. All this because we’re just a bunch of insecure people, hoping to increase self worth with how we are perceived by others. Truth be told, if you are miserable, nothing will change by making others think you aren’t. Accept where you are, and wisely improve yourself.
4. Where him from? This question is even asked by our constitution, albeit in a curative manner (Federal Character). We are always preoccupied with where a prospective employee, employer, or even son in law comes from. Hailing from a certain ethnic group has been the undoing of many men. Ask around.
5. That kind thing no fit work for this country: Whenever we see clips from other climes and we become awed at the technology portrayed, we are tempted to ask, can our society be like this? A sharp reprimand comes to our minds, here no be oyibo oh! Unconsciously, we all feel we should be playing second fiddle. That is why our people keep thinking the Europeans and American are born with a microchip that makes them Whizkids. No sir, they believed in themselves and worked their way to stardom. The techies at Silicon Valley can also be gotten here if we think it and provide the opportunities.
6. Find am something: To the average Nigerian, no one ever does anything without the inspiration of making money. So if the policeman asks you to produce your papers, the first thing you think of is, na money him dey find. (most times sha, its true) But the truth is, it never occurs to us that some people are actually doing their jobs! If someone is crying out against certain policies, the accusation is, na settlement him dey find!. Everyone must always have his price.
The list is unending, but we can always rid our minds of these. When next you think about a revolution, let the picture not be that of bloodshed, let it be that of emancipating your minds from the clutches of thinking like this.
On a happier note, I wish to congratulate the U-17 football team for doing the country proud. I also want to wish my friends Nkoyo, Adah, Ntor and Toyomfon a Happy birthday.
Having read this I believed it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this informative article together. I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worthwhile!